The New England Saga Society (NESS) is sponsoring the following two panels at the 42nd International Congress on Medieval Studies to be held at Kalamazoo, MI from May 10th through May 13th, 2007.

  I. Pagan and Christian: The "Long Conversion" of Iceland
  The conversion of Iceland to Christianity in or around 1000 AD did not mean that the country spontaneously turned its back on its previous gods and traditions. Instead, the island struggled with its new identity, mixing the new religion with the old and resisting the authority of the early bishops. This panel proposal grew out of conversations among participants and audience members at NESS's "Cultural Critiques" panel at the 2005 Congress. This panel seeks papers engaging with all aspects of the conversion narratives and related narratives of the Icelandic canon, including the Alþing decision, resistance to the conversion, attitudes toward clerical authority, the role of outlanders in the conversion, and residual pagan practice on the island throughout the saga age.
   
  II. Emotion in the Sagas of the Icelanders
  This panel will add to current scholarly discourse concerning emotion in the literature of the Middle Ages. The focus here will be on the sagas of the Icelanders, where the language of emotion is so markedly understated and often goes undetected by readers who are unfamiliar with the subtle nuances of the saga authors' narrative cues. This panel seeks to explore these narrative cues in order to provide a greater understanding of the modes of emotional expression in the literature of medieval Iceland.

Please submit an abstract of 200-300 words to Andrew M. Pfrenger (andrew.pfrenger_at_uconn.edu) or to the address below.

Please refer to our website, www.medievalstudies.uconn.edu/ness, for further updates and information.

Andrew M. Pfrenger
University of Connecticut
Medieval Studies Program U-4025
215 Glenbrook Rd.
Storrs, CT 06269
www.medievalstudies.uconn.edu/ness

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Received on Mon Jul 31 2006 - 23:16:18 EDT